National Post: Tory news dump shows the PMO still paranoid

[sorrywrongemail]

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=702589


Reports' timing a trashy move

Tory news dump shows the PMO still paranoid

Don Martin, National Post Published: Wednesday, August 06, 2008



Last Friday before the long weekend, the Harper government released three reports: one on the Maxime Bernier-Julie Couillard incident, above, a rule change regarding the Canadian Wheat Board and a panel's look at the Conservatives' climate-change plan.Jean Levac, Canwest News ServiceLast Friday before the long weekend, the Harper government released three reports: one on the Maxime Bernier-Julie Couillard incident, above, a rule change regarding the Canadian Wheat Board and a panel's ...

OTTAWA -You probably haven't heard the one about the Canadian foreign affairs minister who dropped his secret briefs on the doorstep of a former biker chick's townhouse and dashed upstairs all revved up to "retire" for the night.

That's no joke. It's the carefully documented Maxime Bernier scandal storyline, but because this open and transparent Conservative government released its probe into the missing-document shenanigans of the former minister only late last Friday, it was spared saturation news coverage.

In the White House, this sneaky communications strategy is called "taking out the trash." In the Alberta legislature, it used to be called "bundling."

Either name has the same in-tent -- dump bad news on the eve of a summer long weekend in sufficiently large volumes so that scarce reporters on tight deadlines are too swamped to do their jobs properly.

[TaffyMoon]

1. He needs a psych assessment, like the bus beheader, lol